


Щелкунчик

by athoroughlybakedpotato (acommontater)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Happy Birthday Victor Nikiforov, Nutcracker AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-20 15:19:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13149411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acommontater/pseuds/athoroughlybakedpotato
Summary: Christmas time in Hasetsu always seemed magical to Yuuri.(aka a Nutcracker AU for Vitya's b-day.)





	Щелкунчик

**Author's Note:**

> This is influenced by the original fairy tale by Hoffman, some of the adaptations, and multiple ballet companies versions, plus YOI canon, because I adore both YOI and The Nutcracker (even if Tchaikovsky didn't) and also it's Viktor's birthday!

 

Christmas time was always beautiful in Hasetsu.

 

The lights and decorations were extravagantly beautiful this year and Yuuri stares in awe at the tree in the lobby. It was strung through with twinkling lights, shining ornaments, and candied fruit. Presents are stacked underneath, both real and for decoration.

 

They were having a party later that night and family and friends were coming over. Yuuri and Mari had been trying to sneak into the kitchen and swipe tastes of their mother’s cooking all day with little success. Finally their father shoos them away to get changed before the guests arrived- Yuuri cheering and Mari grumbling at having to dress up.

 

The guests arrived, family they didn’t see often and friends that they did, all dressed up and bringing gifts to exchange. Dinner is declared a rousing success and then the tables are pushed aside to allow room for dancing and karaoke. With all the merriment, Yuuri almost misses the entrance of a mysterious figure. He stares at the door.

 

No one else seems to see the person in the large hooded fur coat carefully stepping out of their shoes. Yuuri creeps closer and suddenly the figure tugs the hood back to reveal...

 

“Minako-sensei!” Yuuri nearly runs across the room. Minako laughs, ruffling his hair.

 

“You’ve grown, Yuuri!”

 

He pouts.

 

“I’m twelve now and almost as tall as Mari! I’ve been practicing my dancing while you were away.”

 

“I’m glad to hear that. Where are your parents?”

 

Yuuri leads Minako over to where his parents are sitting and they greet her with delight as well. She had been away on tour for the last couple of years, working with ballet companies around the world. Yuuri listens to her stories of the dancers with awe. Minako has always seemed like magic personified in his eyes.

The gift exchange is held as the singing and dancing began to die down. Beautiful toys and trinkets were revealed to the guests and the children eagerly crowded together to compare and play. Minako winks at Yuuri and Mari.

 

“I hope you didn’t think that I didn’t bring any presents.”

 

She produces two shining gifts from her coat and Yuuri and Mari quickly set to opening them. Mari receives a set of toy soldiers and a blue military cap covered with pins which she immediately puts on. Yuuri opens his to find a very odd looking wooden doll. The doll has strange puffy white hair, a tall cap on his head, a red jacket with gold braiding, a sword at his side, and wide, staring blue eyes. Minako smiles at his politely puzzled expression.

 

“He’s a good-luck charm, Yuuri! He kept me safe in all my travels around Russia. And watch this.”

 

She took the doll from him and leans over to pluck a chestnut from a table nearby. Lifting a disguised handle on the dolls back, the little man’s mouth opens and Minako put the nut inside and -CRACK CRACK - the shell of the nut was crushed between his teeth. Minako hands the meat of the nut and the doll- who’s name is Nutcracker, she says- back to Yuuri.

Yuuri thought Nutcracker to be very kind, if odd-looking, and very good at his job. One of his cousins noticed Yuuri sitting and cracking nuts open and quickly ran to find the biggest one possible.

 

“Yuuri, let me try!” he says, grabbing Nutcracker before Yuuri can respond. He shoves the too-large chestnut into Nutcracker’s mouth and yanked the lever down -SNAP. Three wooden teeth fall out of Nutcracker’s mouth and his jaw hangs at an awkward angle.

 

“No!” Yuuri cries. His cousin shoves Nutcracker back at him and runs away before any of the adults can notice.

 

Yuuri quickly gathers up the broken teeth and grabs a hair ribbon from Mari’s room to tie under poor Nutcracker’s broken jaw. He holds Nutcracker carefully and whispers words of comfort to his new friend.

 

“It’s okay, I’ll protect you, don’t worry. You protected Minako, so now you can rest.”

 

Minako notices and watches for a long moment before turning back to her conversation.

The night begins to wind down, people trailing out with sleepy goodbyes. Minako is the last to leave, hugging each of them before leaving.

Yuuri begs to stay up a few minutes later to set up a comfortable place for Nutcracker to spend the night and his parents allow it. Mari sets her soldiers on the table where the other kids staying the night had left their toys and went to bed as well. Yuuri has just finished folding a tablecloth into a bed for Nutcracker when the clock- an old-fashioned wooden German clock given to his father as a gift by a guest years ago- strikes midnight. Instead of the usual coo-coo bird sound, a harsh dissonance sounds instead and Yuuri freezes.

 

“Watch out!” The coo-coo bird shouts in it’s tiny voice. “They are coming!”

 

For a moment Yuuri stares- he could have sworn he saw Minako sitting on top of the clock- before he is snapped out of the trance by a strange skittering sound.

 

Yuuri leaps onto the table where he’d been making a bed for Nutcracker as the room is suddenly flooded with hundreds of mice. He stares in horror, unable to even scream, his heart pounding wildly. Suddenly, through the sea of mice, Yuuri sees a taller figure emerge. A fox, more human looking than the rest, with a great golden crown on it’s head. Yuuri is frozen- he hopes wildly that this is all a dream or maybe that Nutcracker could really protect him like Minako had promised. Suddenly he catches sight of movement off to the side of the mice.

The soldiers, dolls, and all the other toys from the table were fighting their way through the mice and- Yuuri couldn’t believe it- Nutcracker is in the lead, his sword flashing as he made his way towards Yuuri. The toys set up a defense around the table Yuuri is sitting on, but they begin to steadily lose ground. Even with Nutcracker’s leadership, and the fierceness with which they fought they were hopelessly outnumbered. For every mouse they down, three more take it’s place.

Then it happens- one of the toys on the outmost perimeter falls and Yuuri watches as his brave Nutcracker fights to the other toy’s side, getting cut off from his troops as he did. The Fox King rushed towards Nutcracker, sword held high and white teeth grinning in triumph and Yuuri can’t take it anymore.

 

“No!” He yells, and taking off his left shoe, he throws it as hard as he can at the Fox King. The room spins before his eyes and everything goes dark.

 

 

Yuuri wakes up in his own bed, sunlight streaming through his window.

 

“Oh thank goodness, you’re awake.” Yuuri turns and ses his mother sigh in relief. He blinks, confused.

 

“Is the Fox gone? Is Nutcracker okay?”

 

“Fox?” Hiroko blinks bemusedly back at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Yuuri. You must’ve been very tired last night- you fell asleep on the toy table! You fell and bumped your head and woke me up. Minako came back for breakfast, so she’ll sit with you with I get some for you.” She pats his hand and left to get him his left-overs.

Yuuri glares at Minako as she walked in.

 

“I saw you on the clock.” He whisperes fiercely, glancing at the doorway. “Why didn’t you help if you were there?”

 

Minako just shakes her head.

 

“Don’t be mad at me, Yuuri. You handled the Fox King quite well and there’s more going on then you know.” She pulled Nutcracker out from behind her back, his teeth and jaw fixed, and handed him to Yuuri. Yuuri cradled his friend protectively. “Nutcracker was once as real a person as you or me. But he was cursed into this.”

 

“Cursed? How?”

 

“It’s a long story...”

 

“Tell me!” Yuuri demands. Minako sighed and sits down next to Yuuri’s bed. Hiroko comes back in with a tray of breakfast for Yuuri and a pot of tea for both of them. Minako thanks her and she leaves again to tend to the rest of the inn.

“Well, I supposed since you are stuck in bed with a bumped head I can tell you.”

And so she began:

 

Once upon a time, there was a very proud king who thought that his new-born daughter was the most beautiful baby to have ever been born. The little princess brought such joy to her mother and father and to the rest of the royal household.

The king declared that a feast should be held in celebration and asked that the queen make his favorite chicken pies for the occasion. The queen immediately set to work, preparing the crusts and filling. As she was preparing the chicken for the filling, a voice sounded from the floor.

“Give me some of that chicken, I’m a Queen just like you, so hand it over!”

The queen knew that this was the Queen of the Foxes, who lived in the woods near the palace. The queen was not the sort to withhold a few pieces of chicken so she handed the morsels over to the Fox Queen, who ate her fill and left. But this was not the end.

As the queen was cooking, the Fox Queen’s seven sons, her uncles, her aunts, and all of her cousins came by, demanding their share of food. The queen gave away piece after piece of meat, until she found herself with far too little to cook the pies with. The dishes were ruined and the king was furious with the foxes. He demanded that all the foxes be hunted down or run out of his land. The Fox Queens seven sons, her uncles, aunts, and all of her cousins were caught by the royal guards and in rage and despair she fled. The queen however, remained wary.

The Fox Queen returned as the queen was walking alone with the princess in the garden.

“Take care,” she hissed as the queen clutched her daughter tightly. “All my family is gone, so be careful that I don’t bite your little princess in two.” and she vanished into the night.

From that night forward, a guard was set to the baby princess at all times, watching for the Fox Queen’s return.

Late one night, one of the nursemaids screamed as she entered the princesses room. The Fox Queen stood over the princess’s cradle and, before anyone could catch her, she leapt out of the open window. The baby princess began to cry at the commotion and the nursemaids sighed in relief that she was alive. But when one of them went to comfort the princess a terrible cry went up. The princess was no longer the lovely baby they had put to bed- her head was now much to large, her body far too small, and her mouth stretched from ear to ear. Great wooden eyes stared up at the horrified nursemaids.

The king and queen consulted the court astronomer and scientist. They quickly set to work and, with the help of their (beautiful, intelligent, talented) friend Madame Okukawa, discovered that the cure was very simple. To break the curse, all the princess needed to do was eat the meat of the Crackatook nut.

There were some complications, however- the Crackatook nut had the hardest shell of any nut in the world, and moreover, in order to completely break the curse, the nut had to be cracked in the presence of the princess in the teeth of a young man, who had to keep his eyes shut until he took seven steps backwards without stumbling. The astronomer, scientist, and Madame Okukawa set off at once to find the Crackatook nut.

They searched for twenty years and had many great adventures- even if the astronomer and the scientist tried Madame Okukawa’s endless patience with their bickering, because they’d been married once before and now they argued  _all the time_  and- but eventually they returned empty handed.

When they entered the palace, they were greeted by a cousin of the astronomer’s.

“You all have been away so long!” he exclaimed. “I have the Crackatook nut, it was given to me many years ago as a gift.”

This was wonderful news and absolutely did not make Madame Okukawa want to throttle the very helpful cousin of the court astronomer.

“Perfect! Now we only need the young man.”

The cousin smiled again.

“My son is the perfect man for the job! You must meet him.”

The cousin’s son was sent for at once. He arrived at the palace shortly, dressed smartly in a beautiful red coat with gold trim, his long hair tied back neatly from his face. He was a very good looking young man, and sometimes kept himself amused cracking nut with his teeth for the pretty youths in town who gave him the nickname the Handsome Nutcracker.

They set at once for the royal court. The princess was very impressed with the young man. He smiled and closed his eyes before -CRACK- neatly cracking the Crackatook nut between his teeth. He handed the nut to the princess before starting his seven steps backwards. With each step, the effects of the curse began to lift, and the princess began to look more and more human. Just as he was about to take the seventh step, the Fox Queen dashed out of hiding and ran right between his feet. The young man stumbled, and in the next moment was instantly transformed.

He lay on the floor, now looking as the princess had for so many years. The Fox Queen lay on the floor as well, the guards not letting her get away again. An arrow had struck her and she laughed.

“I may die, but take care Nutcracker, for my son will see revenge for his mother’s death and he will make sure you follow me.” And, her final curse spoken, the Fox Queen died.

The King, seeing what had become of the young man, banished him from the kingdom. This was the reward for the princess’s hero!

And it is said that Nutcracker will remain cursed until the day that someone loves him for the kindness in his heart and not for how he looks.

 

“Wow.” Yuuri says, looking down at Nutcracker. “What terrible people, he helps them out and they banish him?”

 

Minako sips at her tea.

 

“Yes. Real pieces of work, huh?” She set her empty tea cup down and gathers up Yuuri’s tray. “I’ll take these back to your mom, you rest that bumped noggin of yours. Come by the studio when you’re feeling better.”

 

“Okay!”

 

Minako leaves, and Yuuri stares at Nutcracker, wondering.

 

Was Minako’s story really true? Was Nutcracker under a spell? Had the fight between the toys and the Fox and his troops just been a dream? No, he decided, it was real. It had to be real.

 

Days pass, and nothing more unusual happens. Yuuri begins to wonder- maybe he really had just bumped his head quite hard.

 

One night he is woken up in the middle of the night. At first he can’t figure out what has woken him, but then goes stiff in fear as he sees two gleaming eyes of the Fox King sitting in the corner of his room. The Fox King creeps around the room for a moment before leaping up onto the table next to Yuuri’s bed.

 

“Give me something nice to eat, and don’t argue with me or I’ll chew Nutcracker up into bits.” he demands.

 

Yuuri quickly pulls out his small stash of candy and snacks and sets them in front of the Fox King. He watches, horrified, as the Fox King devours all of his treats before grinning widely at Yuuri and vanishing, only the whiteness of his teeth lingering in the dark.

 

It hadn’t been a dream!

 

Night after the night the Fox King returns and each time he demands more and more from Yuuri- food, his toys, his candy until there was nothing left. His parent’s become concerned for him because he seems so tired, but he waves them off, saying that he just has a lot of school work. Finally, there was nothing left, and the Fox King demands that Yuuri hand over all of his finest clothes and books so that he can destroy them.

 

“Do it, or I’ll destroy Nutcracker instead.” he warns. “I’ll be back to collect what I’m owed.”

 

Yuuri clenches his fists and refuses to let his frustrated tears fall. Slowly, he begins to gather the things up- it might be foolish, but he just couldn’t let the Fox King hurt Nutcracker, not when he couldn’t defend himself. He nearly drops his books when there is a terrible clanging and a yelp from outside of his door. The Fox King had come back sooner than he’d thought! After a long moment of silence, a soft knock sounded at the door.

 

“Yuuri? Please open the door, it’s me, Nutcracker. I have good news.”

 

Yuuri rushes to the door and opens it.

 

True to his word, there stood Nutcracker, who knelt and placed the crown of the Fox King at Yuuri’s feet.

 

“I have defeated my enemy at last, thanks to you, my dear Yuuri.” Nutcracker begins, taking one of Yuuri’s hands between his smooth wooden ones. “I couldn’t let you sacrifice everything just to keep me safe. Your courage became my courage. You have now saved me twice over, and if you would let me, I’d like to take you some place very special to thank you.”

 

Yuuri nods, dazed, and Nutcracker smiles his toothy grin. Yuuri steps out of his room and the world seemed to  _turn_...

 

They are standing in a clearing in a beautiful forest. The leaves of the trees are gold and the branches are strung with silver tinsel that chimes a soft, lovely music as the breeze blows through. Yuuri looks to his side to find that Nutcracker is now nearly the same size as him- had he grown or had Yuuri shrunk? He seems to have lost some of his wooden stiffness as well, his smile coming easier as he looks at Yuuri.

 

“This is Christmas Woods.” Nutcracker tells Yuuri. They enjoy the sweet music as they walk. They travel through many little towns- some made of spun sugar, or chestnut shells, and one made entirely of chocolate. The people of the towns seemed greatly excited by the appearance of Nutcracker. They reach the shores of a great silver lake and a swan-shaped boat appears to carry them across the still waters. Yuuri glances down at the silver water and starts when he sees the face of an angry princess looking up at him instead of his own. Nutcracker sighs and places a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Don’t be afraid, it’s only your own reflection in the water now. But look!”

 

Yuuri looked up and gasped. Rising up on the far shores of the lake was a grand palace, looking as if it were made entirely of candy. Yuuri thought the odd onion topped towers charming.

 

“That’s Castle Marzipan, my home.” Nutcracker says proudly.

 

When they arrive at the gates, they find the castle in a flurry of action, setting up a grand celebration in honor of Nutcracker’s return. Two of the busy workers, one with a shock of red hair and the other with an alarmingly angular head of black hair, both slick like licorice, notice them and gasp before dashing over.

 

“Oh, my prince, it’s so good to see you back. And you!” The servant with red hair turns to Yuuri. “How can we ever thank you for returning him to us?” The servant with black hair pulls Yuuri into a tight hug. “You have saved us all.”

 

Yuuri is baffled as the worker dashes off again. Nutcracker laughs.

 

“I’ll show you around as they get things set up.” he says, leading Yuuri out of the grand hall.

 

He gives him a tour of the castle and Yuuri looks around in wonder.

 

“I’ve never been to a castle before.” he tells Nutcracker, who looks surprised.

 

“But there’s a castle in your town, I was sure it was yours.”

 

Yuuri bursts into laughter.

 

“Hasetsu Castle isn’t a castle, it’s got a ninja house inside.”

 

Nutcracker’s eyes widen in delight.

 

“Wow, ninjas!”

 

They finish the tour of the palace with a long hallway full of portraits. Yuuri looks at the paintings, admiring the details. At the end of the hall is an unlabeled portrait of a young man, older than Yuuri, with long hair and a bright red coat.

 

“Who was he?” Yuuri asks, when he can’t find a plaque. Nutcracker shrugs, his wooden joints creaking.

 

“Someone they thought worth remembering I suppose. Let’s go, they should have everything set up now.”

 

Yuuri stares at the portrait for a long moment before moving to follow Nutcracker back to the grand hall. (It doesn’t quite occur to him that the eyes of the young man in the portrait are the exact same shade of blue as Nutcracker’s.)

 

The evening’s festivities begin as soon as they were seated in the splendid gold thrones at the head of the hall. Performers from all over the land of the Nutcracker come to show off for them.

 

A young man with a shock of curly blonde hair, woman with long dark hair, and a man with short brown hair spin in a fast dance that requires much foot stomping. The blonde man winks outrageously at Yuuri and makes him laugh. Another man in a very colorful jacket performs contortions that make Yuuri’s jaw drop, while maintaining a stoic expression. A boy nearer Yuuri’s age with two other girls perform leaps and flips so fast it makes his head spin. Two girls perform a beautiful duet. Nutcracker laughs in delight as a group of boys jump out of bejeweled eggs to perform. The performances last late into the night until finally the festivities draw to a close and the clock strikes midnight.

 

Nutcracker walks with Yuuri out to where a beautiful golden carriage waits. He presses a kiss to Yuuri’s hand before he helps him up the carriage stairs.

 

“Thank you again, dearest Yuuri.”

 

Yuuri isn’t quite sure what he’s being thanked for, and he leans out the window to see Nutcracker waving as the carriage pulls away. There’s a bump in the road and he falls back into his seat and-

 

 

Yuuri wakes up in his own bed.

Mari pokes her head in.

 

“Oh good, you’re awake. I was about to pour water on you, it’s almost noon.”

 

Yuuri stares at her blearily, confused. Looking around he saw Nutcracker standing quietly on a shelf. He blinks slowly, before nodding decisively.

 

Nobody, not even Minako, believes his story. Every time he pesters her about it, she changes the subject or tells him to run through his steps again.

 

The years pass, and Yuuri still believes in what happened. It was far to vivid and wonderful to have just been a dream. All the time, Nutcracker stays quiet and he never sees another fox. Nutcracker travels with him when he becomes a good enough skater to really compete- he makes Yuuri feel a little braver. If Nutcracker can travel so far from home and still be so brave, then Yuuri can too.

 

One year, alone at the Christmas party, Yuuri sighs.

 

“Nutcracker, if you were real, I wouldn’t care how you looked like that awful princess. As long as you were kind like you were before, I’d love you.”

 

“Practicing your love confession on an ugly doll, Yuuri? I thought handsome young danseurs like you could do better.”

 

Yuuri jumps in surprise and turns around to see Minako grinning at him. He scowls.

 

“Nutcracker’s been more loyal than any boy I’ve met so far, so he’s got that going for him at least.”

 

“I see.”

 

Yuuri looks at her suspiciously.

 

“What are you so happy about?”

 

“Nothing, nothing, go ahead back and join the party.”

 

 

The next day Yuuri is startled by Minako’s voice ringing through the inn in greeting as he stacks towels. Waiting a beat, he clambers to his feet and goes to see what she wants.

 

“Yuuri! Good I was looking for you. I have someone I want you to meet- the grand-nephew of a dear friend of mine. He’s been away for a very long time, but finally decided to _officially_ pay us a visit!”

 

With Minako was a very handsome young man in a red coat, with gold accents, his long silvery-white hair tied back in a neat ponytail. Minako chats with Hiroko while Yuuri smiles awkwardly back as the other man beams at him- he has kind eyes, that seem almost-familiar. He bows deeply from his waist, a few strands of hair coming loose as he does, and Yuuri, without even quite knowing why, reaches out and smoothes them back into place. He freezes under Yuuri’s touch. Yuuri’s hand lingers at the crown of the young man’s head, before he blinks and snatches his hand away, apologies crowding his tongue. The stranger slowly straightens up, a hand coming up to touch where Yuuri’s had just been, a dazed expression on his face.

 

“We’ll let you two get acquainted then.” Yuuri blushes and snaps his head to look at his mother, but she’s already walking away with Minako, talking about some gossip she’d heard in the grocery earlier that week.

 

Yuuri shows the way to a semi-private room and excuses himself to grab them tea. As he puts a small tray together, he wonders why he can’t stop blushing.

 

The moment he sets the tea tray down in the room, the young man grabs his hand and kneels next to him.

 

“Yuuri, my dearest Yuuri, I…” he seems overwhelmed for a moment, pressing his forehead to the back of Yuuri’s hand as he collects himself. When he looks back up, Yuuri can see the emotion in his eyes. “It’s me, Nutcracker, and you saved my life from the Fox King here in this very room. You have saved me three times over now- when you said that you would have loved me no matter how I looked it broke the curse. I am alive again because of you- your courage and love.” He beams up at Yuuri with tears in his eyes.

 

Yuuri stares at him for a long moment in shock, but then an old memory floated to mind and he gasps.

 

“You’re the one from the painting in the palace, in the hall of portraits!”

 

“My name is Viktor.”

 

“Viktor.” Yuuri says softly, one hand coming up to cup Viktor’s cheek. Viktor’s big blue eyes fall shut at his touch and leans into Yuuri’s palm. “My brave Nutcracker.”

 

He leans forward and pulls Viktor into a tight hug, burying his face in his shoulder. After a moment, Viktor’s arms come up to hug him back, slightly stiff, as if he is still remembering how to move real limbs again.

 

A year later, Viktor kneels in the same room to ask Yuuri for his hand in marriage, but finds himself beaten to the punch. They both cry tears of happiness and the marriage is held less than a year later.

 

Rumor says that they left in a golden carriage and they lived happily ever after.


End file.
